Pumpkin . . . Fall 2011

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I have had many requests to put up our own list of products available for the week as the produce is changing weekly now. Please think about reserving one of our Heritage Narragansett turkeys soon. I will be posting more about them later this week (with some great photo's).

Turkey growth has been outstanding this year and we will have some birds close to 20 pounds!!

The farm store is open between 10 am - 5 pm Wednesday - Saturday. You do not need to be a buying club member to pre-order any of our products. We can also do mail order within the state of Maine for our ducks, chickens and turkeys. All of our heritage birds are Maine State Inspected and are processed by the COOP in Monmouth, Maine.

We are starting to take deposits for our Heritage Narragansett turkeys. We have a final count of 45 for this year. Price per pound is $6.00. Please specify weights - 8-10 lbs, 11-14 lbs 15 - 18lbs.

Deposits are $25.00 per turkey. We were sold out by October of last year so place your order soon. These turkeys were the first breed ever developed in the US - 17th century in Rhode Island from the Eastern Wild Turkey and the Spanish Black. The flavor is probably the best of all the heritage turkeys we have tried. We hold one of the few remaining flock of breeders in the US (there are only about 300 breeding adult Narragansetts in the US).

Please reserve them early as we were sold out by October of last year.

All of our turkeys are hatched here on the farm from eggs laid by our breeding flock started in 2007. We do not source any of our poultry from hatcheries after the first year of raising them on our farm. We keep only the best for breeding stock whether it be turkeys, chickens or this year it is ducks.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Our ducklings were processed last Friday and we now have pasture raised duckling available for sale in our farm store or through the Calais Buying Club.

We had our first one on Sunday. I roasted in with carrots and parsnips and basted the bird with balsamic vinegar and tupelo honey. Mark thinks it is the best duck he has ever had (duck is one of his favorite meals.) There was less fat than the birds I have purchased in the past from our co-op (they come from New York). The skin turned quite crispy which creates a wonderful texture coupled with the mild and tender meat. I was pleased with the size too (dressed between 3-4 pounds).

The ducklings were processed at about 16 weeks of age and they grew very fast and ate so much feed (even though they were on pasture). Here they are at a few days old in May:

This year we will not make much of a profit as we paid $8.00 per chick and $7.00 to process them. Five Harlequins will be used for breeding next year so we won't have to pay for chicks again. A beautiful drake named "Sir Francis", and four females. Black Indian Runners are also a fun and comical addition to our farm (they are my pets:). I just can't wait to begin baking with their eggs!

Violet J. Willis

We are a small sustainable village farm located in far Downeast Maine. Our family moved here nearly five years ago and are in the process of restoring a 200 year old coastal farm. Follow us as we fill our newly opened pastures and gardens with Icelandic sheep, Heritage poultry and heirloom vegetables. Our farm motto is "Culinary Excellence from Pasture to Plate".